Chapter 1. Introduction to patching and upgrading
1.1. Patching and upgrading JBoss EAP
Major upgrades
A major upgrade or migration is required when an application is moved from one major release to another, for example, from JBoss EAP 6.4 to JBoss EAP 7.0. If an application follows the Jakarta specifications, does not access deprecated APIs, and does not contain proprietary code, you might be able to run the application in JBoss EAP 7 without any code changes. However, the server configuration has changed in JBoss EAP 7 and requires migration.
This type of migration is addressed in the JBoss EAP Migration Guide.
Minor updates
JBoss EAP periodically provides point releases, which are minor updates that include bug fixes, security fixes, and new features.
Information about the changes made in a point release are documented in the JBoss EAP Migration Guide and in the 7.4.0 Release Notes.
You can use the JBoss Server Migration Tool to automatically upgrade from one point release to another, for example, from JBoss EAP 7.4.0 to JBoss EAP 7.4.1 For information about how to configure and run the JBoss Server Migration Tool, see Using the JBoss Server Migration Tool.
If you prefer, you can perform a manual upgrade of the server configuration. Instructions on how to perform a manual upgrade are documented in this guide. For more information, see Upgrading JBoss EAP.
Cumulative patches
JBoss EAP also periodically provides cumulative patches that contain bug and security fixes. Cumulative patches increment the release by the last digit, for example, from 7.4.0 to 7.4.1.
Patch installation is addressed in the Patching JBoss EAP chapter of this guide.
